Corfu's position at the entrance to the Adriatic connected it to movement through the Ionian Sea and onward towards the Aegean. In the age of sail it provided a stopping place for transit and exchange. Its strategic value depended on where ships could go after reaching it. The island also had natural defensive advantages, although its position was not without weaknesses.
Chapter · 14:51-17:36
Why Corfu mattered in the Ionian Sea
Corfu offered a defensible stopping place between the Adriatic and the wider Mediterranean, with much of its value in the routes beyond it.